


Things Everybody Knows

by Kalloway



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, Post-Blue Lions Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21799387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/pseuds/Kalloway
Summary: It's been six months. Everybody knows. And yet...
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53
Collections: The Lemonade Cafe





	Things Everybody Knows

**Author's Note:**

> a prompt, 'What a heart endures'

The messenger was there for Sylvain, which didn't surprise Felix in the least. Everybody knew that the Gautier heir was assisting the young Duke Fraldarius in the wake of his father's untimely death. Everybody knew... 

Which was why Felix was not surprised by the envelope bearing the House Gautier seal, nor Sylvain's expression as he read the contents. The messenger had been dismissed, though not without direction to find the kitchens and beg cocoa from the cooks to warm up a bit. 

Felix sat behind his desk, only recently finally considered his and not his father's-- Had his father been through this as well? The feeling of not quite belonging and that... No, his father would just look over everything, make cheerful corrections, and probably say something stupid. 

It burned that Felix would welcome that, most days. 

Surely, not so far away, Dimitri felt much the same. But Felix saw no reason to be the one to mention it first... 

He was not thinking about Dimitri as he watched Sylvain refold the letter and shove it back into its envelope. 

"I've been summoned home," Sylvain said flatly. "You... probably guessed." 

"It's been six months," Felix replied. Everything was, at least in a way, under control. Felix no longer needed Sylvain's help-- and he _had_ needed it. At first he'd needed a lot more help than he'd wanted to admit. But now the household was sorted, the troops sorted, the land sorted... Or at least everything was in place, which Felix found to be good enough for the time being. In another six months-- then he would not have to worry as much. 

He trusted Dimitri to do his share, too. 

Still, he was not thinking about Dimitri. 

"Yeah, and what does that matter? I'd rather stay here, not go get examined like a piece of meat by five prospective wives..." Sylvain leaned back against the sofa he'd staked out as his months before. If Felix was at his desk, Sylvain was on the sofa, sometimes with another table pulled over and an equal amount of papers spread around. 

Felix had no doubt that Sylvain would be fantastic once he inherited his title... He, at least, would have all the time and training to not need... 

"Five?" Felix questioned. "And you don't want to go?" 

When was the last time that Sylvain hadn't wanted to flirt or cause trouble? Felix had nearly lost a promising new chambermaid due to Sylvain's attentions, and that was to say nothing for what he heard about from town. He was often asked why he tolerated Sylvain's behavior, to which he only had one response-- If Sylvain was alive, he was content. 

"I'm sure they're... the sort of women I should be marrying," Sylvain replied. He did not have a table or other paperwork, he'd been sprawled and reading. Both letter and book were now discarded beside him. "From families with lots of children, healthy, well-bred, and could do for a Crest or two to pop up..." 

There it was... Felix had been waiting, and he was not denied. He theoretically had the same future, after all... Already, he'd received offers, they'd all been politely declined with the succint explanation that first, other affairs needed to be settled. Then he'd be able to consider interviews and courting. 

Honestly, he just didn't want to think about it yet, though he had found an old letter from Dimitri's father, suggesting a match if ever a princess was born. He and Sylvain had had a chuckle and wondered what response had been sent... 

Perhaps Dimitri had found that by now. 

Not that Felix was thinking about Dimitri. Not when Sylvain had an absolutely lost expression on his face. 

"Let me write a response," Felix said quickly, holding out his hand for the letter. Perhaps it was time to put to ink and paper what everybody already knew. "I simply won't allow you to--" 

"Yeah, that's... not going to work and we both know it. Unless you want to get into a minor feud with my father, which I'd not recommend," Sylvain replied. He sighed and shook his head. "We both know how this is going to end. Even if none of these women work out, there will be more... One of them might even be okay, a good companion, mother... Maybe the firstborn will have a Crest and I won't have to make my children go through..." 

He said something else, but it was too soft and mumbled and Sylvain was looking at the floor and there was nothing else Felix could do, really. 

Pushing back his chair and standing, Felix quickly stretched-- truly, he needed to do something about the chair, which might have been comfortable for past generations or they might have all suffered-- and made his way over to Sylvain. 

"I have all the same thoughts," Felix said flatly. "You know I do. You know our friends do. And you know I'd risk your father's wrath to keep you here without a second thought." 

"I know," Sylvain replied, not looking up. Felix just stood there for a long, quiet moment before reaching to rest a hand on Sylvain's shoulder. 

There was probably something for him to say, but Felix didn't know what it was. Even if... Even if something could be arranged, they would still need heirs. It was something they never talked about but Felix was sure they both thought about. A closer alliance, joining houses and land because... 

Everybody knew that Sylvain shared his bed. Margrave Gautier had to know, too, and he was going to have to force Felix to make a proper claim. Would that make Sylvain feel any better, though? 

Would he feel any better? 

It seemed simpler to think of wives, of heirs, of stolen moments in the future. They'd had six months and it was difficult to think beyond the next six, at least at the moment. Neither of them had asked for this weight on their shoulders, but they both had to do the best they could to bear it. 

"I'll at least go home and see..." Sylvain finally said. "But I'll come back, as soon as I can..." 

"You think I can be satisfied with that answer?" Felix questioned. 

Sylvain looked up. "What?" 

"Be serious for once." 

"I am--" 

"Are you? Then how do you think I feel that you'd so quickly leave--" 

There, that was it, really. That was the crux of it. Had all those thoughts of ways to formalize what everybody knew been for nothing? Did Sylvain really not mean what he said when-- 

And Sylvain's expression changed and Felix didn't say a word. There was work to be done, but he just stood there, having drawn his hand away and folded his arms across his chest. He could wait. 

"I... I just meant..." 

Lost for slick words, Sylvain just grabbed for the envelope and thrust it at Felix. 

"I don't know what to do," he said softly. "I already have someone that..." 

Felix sighed and took it. Yes, he knew. Everybody knew. 

It was time to turn that to change.


End file.
